Food insecurity remains a global issue, particularly in developing countries like Ethiopia. Thus, this study focused on identifying factors contributing to food insecurity and the strategies used to cope with it among agrarian and pastoralist communities of South Ari and Benatsemay Woreda, respectively. A facility-based qualitative study was carried out in Southern Ethiopia. Participants were selected using a purposefully targeting health extension workers, health centre directors, woreda programme experts, district health managers, and pregnant women staying in maternity waiting homes. The selection process included one health facility from each district, focusing on those with the highest number of pregnant women in maternity waiting homes. A total of 17 participants were involved in in-depth interviews, and 2 focus group discussions were conducted with 27 pregnant women, continuing until data saturation was achieved. Field notes were taken, and sessions were voice recorded. Participants in both in-depth interviews and focus group discussions frequently identified several causes of food insecurity in the community, such as food shortages, climate change, rising prices of agricultural products, inadequate agricultural technology, scarcity of farmland, and income constraints. Tailored intervention is highly demanding to implement policies to stabilise food supply chains and mitigate food shortages in both agrarian and pastoralist areas, invest in modern agricultural technologies to boost productivity, encourage the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices to help farmers adapt to changing weather patterns, optimise the productive use of available farmland, promote income-generating activities, and diversify livelihoods to alleviate income constraints and improve food security.

Undernutrition in elders remains under-detected, under-treated, and under-resourced and leads to further weight loss, increased infections, and delay in recovery from illness as well as increased hospital admissions and length of stay. The reports of the findings were fragmented and inconsistent in Ethiopia. Therefore, the main objective of this meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled prevalence of undernutrition and its association with dietary diversity among older persons in Ethiopia. Online databases (Medline, PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct), Google, Google Scholar, and other grey literature were used to search articles until the date of publication. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline was followed. The random effect model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence; whereas subgroup analysis and meta-regression were performed to identify the probable source of heterogeneity using Stata version 14.0 software. Out of 522 studies accessed, 14 met our criteria and were included in the study. A total of 7218 older people (aged above 60 years old) were included in the study. The pooled proportion of undernutrition among older persons in Ethiopia was 20⋅6 % (95 % CI 17⋅3, 23⋅8). Elders who consumed low dietary diversity scores were strongly associated with undernutrition among older persons. Therefore, promoting appropriate intervention strategies for elders to improve dietary diversity practices and nutritional status is crucial.

Although a decrease in carbohydrate intake and an increase in fat intake among Koreans have been reported, investigations of changes in protein intake have been limited. Thus, this study aimed to explore trends in the dietary intake of total, plant and animal proteins overall and by socio-demographic subgroups in Korea over the past two decades. A total of 78 716 Korean adults aged ≥ 19 years who participated in the seven survey cycles of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1998–2018 were included. Dietary protein intake, overall and by source, was calculated using a single 24-h dietary recall data. Changes in dietary protein over 20 years were estimated using multiple linear regression analysis after adjusting for potential covariates. For total protein intake, a significant decrease was reported from 1998 to 2016–2018 (P for trendlinearity < 0·001), whereas an increasing trend was observed from 2007–2009 to 2016–2018 (P for trendlinearity < 0·001). In terms of protein intake by source, plant protein intake decreased while animal protein intake increased over the past two decades, indicating steeper trends during the recent decade (P for trendlinearity < 0·001). These trends were more pronounced among younger adults and those with higher household income and education levels. These findings suggest that continuous monitoring of dietary protein intake overall and by source (plant v. animal) across socio-demographic group is needed.

Essential nutrition action (ENA) is one of the most effective preventive actions for combating nutritional problems in young children. There is, however, a paucity of evidence about mother's knowledge and attitude regarding key ENA messages. The objective of the present study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of mothers towards key ENA messages and associated factors. A representative sample of 563 mothers of children from birth up to 24 months in mainly rural North Ethiopia was included in the study. The findings showed that 66⋅4 % of the mothers have a good knowledge and 68⋅9 % have a good attitude. In the multivariable analysis using logistic regression, mothers who attended secondary school or higher education were six times more likely to have a good knowledge (AOR 6⋅1; CI 2⋅945, 12⋅719) compared with those who are illiterate. Besides, women who resided in an urban area (AOR 2⋅2; CI 1⋅14, 4⋅25), attended antenatal care (ANC) visits (AOR 3⋅7; CI 2⋅421, 5⋅742), attended postnatal care (PNC) visits (AOR 2⋅2; CI 1⋅37, 3⋅4) and heard nutritional-related information (AOR 1⋅9; CI 1⋅14, 3⋅49) were found to have a good knowledge. On the other hand, mothers who attended ANC visits were almost four times (AOR 3⋅9; CI 2⋅7, 5⋅8) more likely to have a good attitude towards key ENA. Mothers who delivered at health institutions and who attended PNC visits were also more likely to have a good attitude. In conclusion, the present study determined the level of knowledge and attitudes of mothers about ENA and several factors that influence mother's knowledge and attitude regarding ENA.

The aim of the study was to assess dietary diversity (DD) and associated factors among human immune deficiency virus (HIV)-positive adults attending the anti-retroviral therapy (ART) clinic at Felege Hiwot Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (FHCSH) in Northwest Ethiopia. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted at FHCSH in 2019. A systematic random sampling technique was employed to select 352 study subjects. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and chart review. Statistical Package for the Social Science version 26 was used for analysis. A simple and multivariable binary logistic regression was used to determine associated factors. Two hundred and nine (59⋅4 %) adults had consumed a diversified diet. The mean individual DD score was 3⋅86 ± 1⋅18. Self-employment status (adjusted odd ratio (AOR): 4⋅60; 95 % confidence interval (CI): 1⋅72, 12⋅27), quintiles of wealth index (the second (AOR: 4⋅33; 95 % CI: 1⋅72, 10⋅89), middle (AOR: 4⋅40; 95 % CI: 1⋅71, 11⋅31), fourth (AOR: 6⋅60; 95 % CI: 2⋅36, 18⋅48) and the highest quintiles (AOR: 9⋅45: 95 % CI: 3⋅34, 26⋅77), the last CD4 count 200–349 cells/mm3 (AOR: 8⋅08; 95 % CI: 2⋅93, 22⋅23), those who took first-line ART regimen drugs (AOR: 4⋅49; 95 % CI: 2⋅19, 9⋅21), subjects who did not take co-trimoxazole prophylaxis (AOR: 6⋅36; 95 % CI: 2⋅54, 15⋅88), those who had nutritional counselling at a health institution (AOR: 2⋅36; 95 % CI: 1⋅08, 5⋅16), had no food preference (AOR: 2⋅42; 95 % CI: 1⋅14, 5⋅13) and a food-secure household (AOR: 3⋅51; 95 % CI: 1⋅85, 6⋅67) were associated factors of DD among adults on ART. This study exhibited that the DD status among adults attending the ART clinic was below two-thirds. Health institutions and health professionals working at ART clinics shall strengthen their efforts to sustain the nutritional counselling service and ART adherence at health institutions and encourage the patients to avoid food preference for their meal. It is vital to ensure the household food security of adults on ART.

This article focuses on the issue of framing of food in international law, as a means to highlight the specific dimensions of food that are the focus of food as heritage under the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The specific example of Mexican traditional cuisine is used as a prism through which to analyze regulatory choices across a range of organizations in the United Nations System, yielding a number of frames: food as heritage, food as a human right, food as indigeneity, food as biodiversity, and food as a regulatory object. The frames are natural consequences of the mandates of the bodies addressing food, and the article argues that food as heritage needs to be more clearly engaged with other dimensions of food in international law, lest food becomes just a tourist attraction under the intangible heritage regime.

The 1930s and 1940s saw the rise of a new model of global food politics. This model was strongly moulded by the experiences of the Great Depression and the two world wars, all of which had brought hunger and malnutrition back to Europe. Whereas until the nineteenth century famines and food shortages had commonly been interpreted as regional Malthusian crises, they were now attributed to global economic disturbances and imbalances. This article explores how the far-reaching plans of a World Food Board, advocated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization under John Boyd Orr, were abandoned and supplanted by a new approach that focused on technical aid and the distribution of surpluses. Moreover, the problems of hunger and malnutrition were embedded in a larger discourse on world population and economic development.